Millions to wind turbine network

DKK 12 million are to retain and bring new jobs in the wind turbine industry throughout the North Jutland region.

The business network Hub North for suppliers to the wind turbine industry is now a permanent institution in northern Denmark. The 12 million to be used for the three-year start phase have been found, and the initiators are now working to effectively and permanently bring together of all the wind turbine players in the region.

A close-knit cluster of organisations that knows the strengths and weaknesses of each, is the only chance of standing out in an industry with a tough, hard-nosed competition on the global market.

Hub North is a northern Danish network with targeted profiling within wind energy. The operators are companies active within the windmill industry, directly or as subcontractors to larger manufacturers. The business network has existed as a pilot project since March of this year and already has 80 members. The region is estimated to have up to 150 subcontractors to the wind turbine industry.

Growth forum

Growth Forum North Jutland has granted half of the sum needed, in all six million Danish kroner, to the work of bringing subcontractors together. The other six million Danish kroner come from the Port of Aalborg A/S, Aalborg Samarbejdet, Aalborg Business Council, Aalborg University, Erhvervskontorerne in North Jutland, Aalborg Municipality’s Commercial Section and others.

The Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority must formally grant the aid that the Growth Forum is recommending.

The Growth Forum explained the rather large sum for a single project with these words:

“It concerns a relevant project with great innovative value. It is the first time anyone has attempted to establish such an extensive network to promote wind energy in the region, with the participation of companies, the university and the established trade promoting system”.

The money is a start package for the first three years. The supplier cluster is then expected to be so established that the collaboration will take off on its own.

Mayor Henning G. Jensen, Chairman of Aalborg Samarbejdet and Aalborg Business Council, two of the main sponsors, sees the grant as an expression of the fact that targeted efforts are now being made regarding one of North Jutland’s positions of strength.

“With this project, we are creating the basis for the establishment of some of the future workplaces in North Jutland”.

Claus Holstein, chairman of Hub North and CEO of the Port of Aalborg, is pleased with the grant and promises maximum effort to bring wind turbine players together for the benefit of the entire region and for the entire Danish wind turbine industry.

“We are humbled and thank Growth Forum for the money, but at the same time, it is also a confirmation that our thinking with regard to such a network has been right all along”.

The Growth Forum expects the Hub North project to see employment in the wind turbine industry grow by 10 percent.

“This figure concerns production itself. But it is a growing industry, so the figure will likely be even higher when we include jobs with academics and the people we attract from the outside”, says Claus Holstein.

We need to be visible

Hub North has already seen that the wind turbine suppliers are finding and using each other in just the few short months the business network has existed.

“It is important that we maintain that development. And if they are going to keep finding each other, it is critical to have a network with a skilled team. This is such an enormous project that we need to have people in the engine room at all times. And they must be committed individuals employed on a full time basis and who are passionate about the field. Fortunately, the Growth Forum has seen and accepted that permanent staff and visibility are a necessity for Hub North. That is how networks work in other regions and in the rest of the world”, says chairman Claus Holstein.

Personally, he is particularly happy that the committee also has testing facilities on the list of projects.

“For me as chairman, testing facilities represent a special little endearing child. At the same time, we are working on setting up 0-series wind turbines in our area”, Holstein says.

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According to the latest figures from Windpower.org, turnover and employment in the wind turbine industry continues to grow. Total revenue for 2015 was thus 2.9% higher compared to 2014, while employment surged by 3.8% in the same period.

According to the Danish Wind Industry Association, 2015 was the best year for business in the wind turbine industry since the financial crisis and both turnover and employment has increased.

The study from May 2016 shows that 31,251 is employed by the industry in 2015, which represents an increase of 3.8% from the year before, and thus the growth from the previous few years continues. In terms of revenue stream, the numbers are also going in the right direction. From a total turnover for the industry of 85.2 billion DKK. in 2014, we are now experiencing an increase of the amount of 87.9 billion. DKK in 2015. This is equivalent to an increase of 2.9%, and comparing it to the numbers from 2010, the revenue for 2015 is 17.2% higher.

When looking at the Danish export, it saw the Danish Wind Turbine industry decline in 2015, where the total exports compared to 2014 was 10.7% lower. The explanation probably lies in the development in the European wind market, which in 2015 had set record wind power capacity. Such an increase may have resulted in a decrease in the need for imports of Danish wind power at a European level. However, export in the wind turbine industry in Denmark is still more than half of total revenue (55%).

Wind Power storming ahead in Europe In terms of capacity, Denmark is among nine European countries with a capacity of over 5 GW of installed wind power, the latest statement from EWEA (European Wind Energy Association). In the same list, Germany is by far the top with almost 45 GW, almost double that of Spain, with 23 GW sits on the second largest capacity. In 2015 there was in Europe invested 26.4 billion. Euro in wind energy development. This represents, according to EWEA’s survey, an increase of 40% compared to 2014 and looked at offshore capacity alone, the increase from 2014 to 2015 is twice as large as the previous period. It is therefore not surprising that EWEA’s study also shows that the total wind power capacity in 2015 have overtaken hydropower as the continent’s third most common form of energy; though still behind regarding coal and gas.

Parties from around the world interested in wind turbines were gathered Wednesday 4 March 2015 at Comwell Hotel Hvide Hus in Aalborg for the opening reception of the annual delegation trip prior to EWEA Offshore 2015.

Aalborg’s mayor Thomas Kastrup-Larsen opened the reception and welcomed the approximately 52 Danish and foreign guests, who for four days were visiting companies representing the top of the pop in the Danish wind turbine industry. The guests visited North Jutland companies such as Bladt Industries, the National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines and Envision Energy, who are currently testing a two-blade wind turbine at the port of Thyborøn.

At the opening reception, the guests had the pleasure of meeting each other for the first time and despite the cultural differences, the room was buzzing when the guests chatted and networked with each other.

The opening reception was organized by Hub North who used the opportunity to promote the competences in North Jutland, the companies within the North Jutland wind turbine industry as well as the trade organization Danish Wind Industry Association, who organized the delegation trip.